How strongmen co-opted democracy

Professor Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS noted that the global spread of democracy, a Western gift to the world, was meant to result in the election of liberal, pro-Western leaders. But instead, a wave of strongman rulers has been elected, many of whom have clear non-Western identities, which might reflect a new chapter in history. He opined that as more and more countries shed their deference to the West, the continuing resurrection of strong nationalist leaders is inevitable, and our geopolitical future is likely to lie with this new wave. 

• The Straits Times, 2 October 2017, Opinion, pA18